Dispenser dial and sign illuminator



13, 1956 B. BARANOWSKI 2,770,711

DISPENSER DIAL AND SIGN ILLUMINATOR Filed March 16, 1953 2 Sheets-SheetJ m m 9% o L9. i E" GALLDNS PER GALLON LESUE. B. BHRHNOWSKI JNVENTOR.

Byi w%w HTTORNEY 1956 L. B. BARANOWSKI DISPENSER DIAL AND SIGNILLUMINATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 16, 1953 LESLIE B. BnwmowsmINVENTOR. ma M441 HTTORNEY United States Patent DISPENSER DIAL AND SIGNILLUMINATOR Leslie B. Baranowski, Burlington, Ontario, Canada, as-

signor to Bowser, Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind., a corporation of IndianaApplication March 16, 1953, Serial No. 342,642

2 Claims. (Cl. 240-2.1)

This invention relates to a lighting structure for a liquid dispensingpump. More specifically, it relates to a brand panel which is so formedas to permit a rearrangement of the dial illuminating lamp relative tothe as sociated dial and indicators so that the latter are betterlighted.

In most modern filling station gasoline dispensers, the lighting of theregister indicators and dials is usually quite poor because the dial israther long and is arranged vertically, parallel to the housing andbecause the space between the dial and housing and that between the lampand the housing are too small to permit the direct light from thefilament of the lamp to fall on the dial and indicators.

Various attempts have been made to improve lighting by supplying specialbulbs such as the Lumaline or Showcase" types, but this solution is notacceptable because the lamps are not readily available and areexpensive.

Other efforts have been made along the lines of tilting or bending thedials, but these have not been too successful to date because theregisters to which the dials are fastened are standardized and theamount of tilting or bending which can be done is severely limited bythe register structure.

In order to solve the problem, applicant has provided a specially formedbrand panel which permits the adjustment of the lamp to position thefilament at the most advantageous point for illumination of the dial andin dicators.

A further and unexpected advantage gained by this structure is thatconsiderable lighting of the ground around the dispenser and of thedispenser housing itself is attained.

Still another unexpected advantage is obtained in that the projectingbrand panels provide attractively and brilliantly lighted areas when thedispenser is viewed edgewise as in Figure 2 or from a slight angle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a brand panel which canbe readily manufactured in various colors and of various materials.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a panel which can bemade of plastic materials.

Another object of the invention is to provide a brand panel which isconvex and extends outwardly from the dispenser.

These and other objects will become apparent from a study of thisspecification and the drawings, which are attached hereto, made a parthereof and in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical, front elevation of the dispenser showing thedial, indicators and brand panel.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 22of Figure 1 showing the lamps positioned with respect to the dials,indicators, brand panels, etc.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the brand panel and its mountingstructure.

Figure 4 is an end elevation of a modified form of panel.

Figure 5 is a front elevation of the panel of Figure 4.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 represents, generally, theframe of the dispenser, 3 the register which has the indicator wheels 5,7 and 9 which are used to display the dollar value of the sale, thegallons dispensed and the price per gallon. A reset crank 11 actuates areset shaft 13 to reset the indicators to zero prior to anotherdispensing operation.

Fastened to the registering mechanism, on each side, are dials 15. Eachdial has a rim 17 at the side and bot tom edges. Suitable openings 19are formed in the dials through which the indicators project and arevisible. A ventilating opening 21 is formed in the lower rim to permitcirculation of air between the dial and the door glass 23 which issuitably mounted in each of the doors 25 of the housing.

The dials are held in proper position on the register by screws 27.

It should be noted that the distance between the surface of the dial andthe inner surface of the adjacent door glass is relatively small, beingapproximately 1 /8 in the actual structure. Since the filament 33 of thelamp 31 is disposed about A" from the tip of the globe which encases itand since some clearance must be allowed between the globe and the brandpanel, it is obvious that the filament is actually disposed behind theplane of the dial in the prior art dispensers so that no directillumination could reach the face of the dial and so that the only lightreaching the dial was that which was reflected from the door glass andother parts of the unit.

It Was impractical to either increase the distance between the doorglasses or to decrease the distance be tween dials because of the greatnumber of parts which would have to be altered to say nothing of thetools and dies for such parts.

In order to overcome this difliculty, a concavo-convex brand or signpanel 35 is provided. The panel may take any one of a number of shapes.The preferred form utilizes a rectangular flange 37 which runs allaround the panel. From the bottom and top portions of the flange, theplanar walls 39 and 41 extend substantially at right angles toward eachother until they merge in a radius 43. From each end flange a wall 45extends outwardly and is joined with the walls 39 and 41 by a suitableradius. The walls 45 converge slightly outwardly. Wall 39 is preferablyshorter than wall 41 (Figure 3) so that the lettering of the brand namemay be as large as possible.

The flange 37 is fitted with a U-shaped gasket 47 and is held in placeon an offset flange 49 of the door by a trim or molding strip 51 whichis bolted to the door by suitable bolts 53.

It will be seen that the brand name or other message or lettering 52 canbe incorporated in the wall 41 by any of the usual methods such as bypainting, raised letters, inlay, decal or any other suitable method.

As will be seen from Figure 2, the convex brand panel makes it possibleto move the lamps 31 away from each other to the extent that thefilaments 33 are disposed in front of the dials 15. Thus, the dial andthe indicators are subjected directly to the light from the associatedfil ment.

It is further to be noted that the filaments are disposed relative tothe walls 39 so that light will pass downwardly therethrough to theground surrounding the dispenser and that light will be reflected fromthe upper wall 41 down the door of the dispenser.

The panel 35 is well lighted so that the brand name is well displayedand the end Walls 45 are similarly well lighted so that the dispenser isquite attractive when approached from the side or at an angle.

By using plastic materials, for example, acrylic resin such as Plexiglasor Lucite which have good diffusive properties, it is possible to usemore intense lamps without creating an unpleasant or uncomfortablebright spot on the brand panel. This also increases the amount of lightwhich is shed on the dial, on the ground around the dispenser and on thedispenser housing.

The lamp usually used is a standard 60 watt lamp. Use of a 100 Watt lampin the prior art structure, usually produces little more lighting on thedial and produces a blinding bright spot on the glass brand panel. Inthe instant device, a 100 watt lamp can be used to great advantage,especially in stations where there is little auxiliary lighting.

As shown in Figure 2, the lamp sockets are adjustably mounted uponscrewed nipples which are mounted in the junction box so that thesockets may be positioned, by rotation thereof, to dispose the filamentof the associated lamp at the most effective position. The lamp must, ofcourse, be out of contact with the brand panel when the door 25 isclosed and should be separated therefrom by an air space so that theplastic material will not be damaged by the heat from the lamp.

It will thus be seen that, by provision of the brand panel, not only isthe brand name made more prominent because of the reduction of a glaringbright spot, but the dial and indicators are furnished with light ofmuch greater intensity and which is much more evenly distributed overthem.

Further, the dispenser is lighted to increase its visibility by reasonof the light reflected on the housing, on the ground adjacent thehousing and that which radiates out of the side walls of the brandpanel. The dispenser is thus rendered more attractive and useful by thenovel c011- struction and arrangement of the parts as disclosed herein.

Another form which the brand panel may take is shown in Figures 4 and 5.In this case the retaining flange 101 is the same size and shape asflange 37 but the body 103 is rounded instead of planar and the endwalls 105 converge outwardly to a slight degree.

It should be noted that the brand panels are interchangeable with eachother and with the usual glass panel.

It is obvious that various changes may be made in the form, structureand arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of theinvention. Accordingly, applicant does not desire to be limited to thespecific embodiment disclosed herein primarily for purposes ofillustration; but instead, he desires protection falling fairly withinthe scope of the appended claims.

What I claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. In a liquid dispenser, a planar dial, a door, a door glass thereindisposed in parallel, closely spaced relation to the dial, means forsupporting a lamp above the dial and glass with its longitudinal axissubstantially normal to the plane of the dial, a translucent sign panelmounted in the door above said glass, said panel having upper and lowerplanar walls disposed substantially at right angles to each other, saidupper wall being longer than said lower wall, said walls intersecting toform a concave-convex wall disposed at the level of the lamp and withits convexity extending away from the lamp, said lamp being disposed toextend into the concavity of the panel to position the filament of thelamp directly above the space between the dial and door glass, saidpanel convexity projecting from said dispenser whereby the outsidesurfaces of the dispenser and the ground around the dispenser will beilluminated when said lamp is energize 2. A sign panel formedsubstantially from translucent material for use with a light carriedtherebehind comprising coplanar top, bottom and end flanges, aconcaveconvex wall convex forwardly extending between said top andbottom flanges and substantially planar end walls connecting said endflanges and the ends of said concavoconvex wall, said concave-convexwall comprising a first planar display wall extending downwardly andoutwardly from said top flange and a second planar light emitting wallextending outwardly and upwardly from said bottom flange and mergingwith said first wall substantially normal thereto, said first wall beinggreater in length than said second wall to present simultaneously alarge forwardly visible illuminable sign area and separate downwardlyand sidewardly directed outside illuminating means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,030,339 Smith June 25, 1912 1,526,707 Jefferson Feb. 17, 19251,572,793 Hall Feb. 9, 1926 1,787,684 Jacobi Jan. 6, 1931 1,796,721Price Mar. 17, 1931 1,855,667 Davis Apr. 26, 1932 2,019,812 GriffithNov. 5, 1935 2,238,728 Hadley Apr. 15, 1941 2,269,554 Rolph Jan. 13,1942 2,308,704 MacNeil Jan. 19, 1943 2,338,559 Winkelmeyer Jan. 4, 19442,340,859 Bechtold Feb. 8, 1944 2,626,473 Howenstine Jan. 27, 19532,634,529 Burdick Apr. 14, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 359,237 Great BritainOct. 22, 1931

